Rolling out more 20mph zones in town centres is missing the point when it
comes to road safety, says Erin Baker

Woken, not by my son crying, but by workmen outside my window last week, I drew back the curtains to find a wacking great big 20mph speed limit sign glinting malignly at me. On the other side of the disc, nailed to the same pole, was a 30mph sign. How exciting, I thought: my bedroom is limited to 20mph, while the en-suite can race away at 30mph. I’ve always wanted a power shower.

Turns out, our town centre has been declared a 20mph zone. This raises many issues, not least the most obvious point that apart from the hours between 1am and 5am, cars are incapable of moving at more than 15mph anyway. Pedestrians move quicker. Maybe the limit is for them, or the crazy jogging-with-buggy dads, or the uncontrollable toddlers on scooters, or the teenagers running for buses.

Yet again, the local authority has spent a lot of money on something no one asked for, and no money on the problems everyone’s shouting about, like lack of cycle lanes, boarded-up high-street shops, disused council areas of garffitied bricks, broken children’s playgrounds and more rubbish collections.

The problem is, councils have the power to introduce 20mph speed limits and zones without obtaining consent from the Secretary of State, so all it takes is one slap-happy bloke with the ability to sign off committee approvals and a collection of street signs on poles appears faster than you can blink, or sleep, in my case.

The other problem is, bluntly, the Lib Dems, and I’m sorry about that because Nick Clegg seems like an affable bloke. They’re the ones who campaigned for, and ruled on, a blanket 20mph zone in my town centre. There is no greater way to weaken your argument than by saying all roads are the same, all hazards pose the same risk, all drivers are equally reckless and therefore all town roads should be limited to 20mph.

No one’s arguing against the odd 20mph speed limit outside a school for instance, although I resent the idea we need the State to tell us not to mow down five-year-olds, and the number of mothers double-parking BMW X5s on yellow zigzags normally makes it impossible to do anything other than crawl past schools at going-home time anyway. But that’s a specific hazard which requires a specific solution, and the public recognise that - 94 per cent of respondents to an Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) survey agreed with 20mph limits outside schools, compared with just 21 per cent of drivers in favour of the same limit outside shops. Only eight per cent of respondents opted for 20mph near cycle lanes.

The message is clear - use speed limits sparingly and sensibly, to protect those not capable of protecting themselves. As far as shopping adults and cyclists are concerned, they must, rightly, take their chances.

Most motorists are against 20mph limits in towns, according to the IAM reseach. Half of drivers are against a blanket 20mph speed limit with male drivers unsurprisingly more against the idea than female. Fifty-five per cent of young drivers were naturally against 20mph zones as a speed limit for towns, but only 34 per cent of older drivers were in favour. Even the cautious, experienced motorists think there’s an element of responsibility on behalf of the individual.

Here’s the Baker’s Britain solution to all this. Local authorities and Government, take the money you will save from banning 20mph zones, and stopping the use of speed humps, which only ruin suspension and tyres, and instead employ more traffic cops to penalise the following actions: needless use of the horn in built-up areas, blocking of junctions, ignoring of red lights, refusal to let pedestrians across side roads, parking in a way that blocks an entire lane of traffic, taking more than two goes to reverse into a space, pinching someone else’s space....Really, you’re all het up about 20mph zones? It’s war out there: time to deal with the real issues.